Unknown things in the world

The greatest bowl of cháo the world has ever known: cooked in the jungle at a makeshift barbecue with freshly-slaughtered roast-pork and chemical-laden market chicken. I spent five days in a freezing mist up in Khe Sanh, drinking coffee and eating at the same rice shack every day. It occurred to me to stay there forever and open a place called The Fireplace that served hot tea and nothing else over an open fire. It would also be the only warm place in all of Quang Tri Province. Instead, I decided to go back and see Bo Bay—a kindly octogenarian member of the Pako tribe who had served as some kind of Communist super-commando during the war and, most recently, invited me to tea. This decision didn't come easily, but rather was inspired by an endless volley of phone calls and texts from the man himself wondering how I was and when I would arrive. When I finally did show up on his doorstep one afternoon, he looked at me a little foggily. Although Bo Bay had told me, on my … [Read more...] about Lunch with the Great Man of the Mountains (Part 2)

There are many interesting things that can be seen at the Yok Don Wildlife Sanctuary, while the most interesting thing that may unknown to many people is that this is the place where the dipterocarp forest ecosystem is preserved.
The Yok Don National Park, belonging to Buon Don and Ea Sup districts of Dak Lak province, is 40 kilometers far from Buon Ma Thuot City. The national park was established 1992. This is one of the biggest wildlife sanctuaries in Vietnam with the total area of 115,545 hectares.
The only dipterocarp forest ecosystem is preserved
Considered the national park with the largest area in Vietnam, Yok Don is also the only area in Vietnam which can preserve the dipterocarp ecosystem.
According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT), dipterocarp forest is dry and thin forest, which includes Dipterocarpaceae trees which shed their leaves in the dry season. In the rainy season, grass and vegetation layers develop strongly which serve as the food … [Read more...] about The interesting things at the Yok Don Nature Reserve

Asteroids Galaxy Tour to perform in Hanoi for New Year
Asteroids Galaxy Tour, a fairly well-known music team of Denmark, will attend a count-down event on New Year's Eve at Hanoi Opera House on December 31.
Formed in 2007, the group includes five members: the well-known singer Mette Linberg, trumpet player Miloud Carl Sabri, saxophonist Sven Meinild, guitar player Mad Brinch Nielsen, drummer Rasmus Valldort and Lars Iversen, a composer and producer.
During their show, they will perform The Golden Age, one of their best known songs, composed by Lars Iversen.
"This is one of our most sentimental songs. We mean to show our appreciation for the great music that was made in the past, especially from the 30's, the 60's and the 70's," said Lars.
The count-down festival will be held by Hanoi municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as an international cultural event free for the public.
HCM City launches new tourism programme
Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, … [Read more...] about ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 22/12

A list of ASEAN's outstanding shares has been found on the common website of the ASEAN's stock exchanges - (aseanexchanges.org - AE), where Vietnamese securities investors can see the names of the shares which they never thought before that they would appear on such a website.
An analysis director of a securities company on November 28 sent to Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam's reporter the link where the reporter can see the list of 60 Vietnamese outstanding shares published on AE. The director also sent a lot of "grin" emotional icons when talking about the names of the shares appearing on the list.
In an effort to introduce the outstanding products of ASEAN stock markets, AE is introducing 210 shares which it says representing six stock markets in five countries in the region, including Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
There are two stock exchanges in Vietnam, including the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) and HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE). … [Read more...] about The list of ASEAN’s outstanding shares laughable

A host of young Korean stars are taking to the stage in London, New York and beyond in a bid to crack one of the final global frontiers for Asian culture -- pop music.
"K-pop," as Korean pop is called, has made major inroads into Japan, the world's second largest music market.
But breaking into key countries further afield like Britain, Germany, France and, most crucially, the United States, has so far eluded acts who may be household names at home but remain virtual unknowns outside Asia.
Korean bands are not the only ones trying to be the next Britney Spears, Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber.
Japanese artists, some of them "J-pop" superstars, have also looked overseas for new audiences, although the size of their own market, only just behind the United States in the world rankings, means they have less incentive.
"It is a pain for a lot of these Japanese bands to make the effort to try and penetrate overseas markets," said Steve McClure, executive editor of McClure's Asia Music News … [Read more...] about Korean pop music out to conquer the world

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) lack of dollar is not the reason for the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong. Instead, the key issue at the moment is that Vietnamese people do not want to keep the Vietnam dong. Therefore, the government needs to do more to restore public confidence in the local currency.
An online roundtable talk was organized by VietNamNet's Vietnam Economic Forum on November 11, to discuss the factors hindering Vietnam's economic growth. The invited guests included the World Bank Vietnam Country Director Victoria Kwakwa, Senior Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Benedict Bingham, and Head of the Vietnam Economics Institute Tran Dinh Thien.
As the year 2010 is nearing its end it is now clear that the government's flexible management has brought many significant economic achievements. However, many problems have still remain which could be the latent sources of uncertainties for the macroeconomyin 2011. The inflation … [Read more...] about Government needs to restore confidence in VND

Buddhism has kissed this world with compassion, enwoven light and love in the hearts of men kindled lamps in the forlorn recesses of somber shades of life, and enlivened dead dogmas with logic.Buddhism arose as a spiritual force against social injustice, and advocated the equality of all men irrespective of their birth. It gave spiritual freedom to women. The welfare state created by the Buddhist emperor Asoka is an outstanding example of the spirit of its perennial teachings. The Buddhist Middle Path summons us to a dialogue of timeless day, from thought to awakening awareness, from ideology to ideas, so that tiny pebbles gathered on the shoreline of life become fine like pearls, and when we carry the pebbles back home to our hearts, intertwined with them will be the Sea of Consciousness in our sleeves. It seeks glistening waters in the rhythms of the universe, in the flow of the spiritual and the scientific, evolving humans into a growing wholeness of inner unity and constant … [Read more...] about Buddhism: The Indian Heritage

The country is now one of the world’s leading producers of genetically modified crops. Vietnamese farmers started to commercially grow genetically modified (GM) corn last year. Since then they have extended their crops to roughly 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres), according to the Ministry of Rural Development and Agriculture, ranking the country 23rd on the list of 29 countries that allow GM crops. Around 200 tons of GM corn has gone onto the market so far this year, official statistics show. Vietnam plans to cover 30-50 percent of the country’s farmland with GM crops by 2020. The government officially allowed mass farming of GM corn for animal feed in March 2015 to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers. Vietnamese livestock producers reportedly use about 60 million tons of corn for animal feed per year. Statistics show the country almost doubled its corn imports to 7 million tons last year from 3.75 million tons in 2014, mainly from the world’s top producers … [Read more...] about Vietnamese farmers sow the seed of GM crops

Khanh Hoa Aquilaria Crassna Strives to Reach the World Agarwood-Spirit of Heaven and Earth The formation of agarwood is mysterious. Legend has it said that agar or aloes is the incense of the Heaven carried by the wind to land on the wound of agarwood and mixed with the resinous substance dripping from that wound and tempered over the time by good soil, sunshine, ocean breeze and other special natural factors, called the Sacred Spirit of Heaven and Earth. Agarwood or aloeswood is scientifically called aquilaria. During its growth, it remains unknown why the tree gets injured and the resin in the tree sticks to resist external infestations. That resin gradually denatures and turns into agarwood. Therefore, aquilaria carrying agarwood is typically denuded, burled, bored by worms or struck by wind, lightning or even bomb. Lightning-struck aquilaria denatures to turn into agarwood. The value of agarwood was discovered a very, very long time ago. From ancient times, only feudal rulers or … [Read more...] about Khanh Hoa Aquilaria Crassna Strives to Reach the World

Plants and animals that were not known have been found in south-east Asia.An interesting one is the Helen's flying frog, which can even be found close to Ho Chi Minh City.It stays away from humans, which is why it has probably not become known to the scientific world.It also jumps so far that it flies.
HA NOI (VNS) — As many as 99 new species have been found in Viet Nam, according to a World Wildlife Fund report released last Thursday. … [Read more...] about Flying frog a new discovery in Viet Nam